Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality for both sexes in North America. In 2004, approximately 174,000 new cases of lung cancer (54% in men, 46% in women) were diagnosed in the U.S. In 2004, approximately 160,000 people died of this disease in the U.S. alone.
Unfortunately, at the time of diagnosis, only 25% of lung cancer patients are potentially curable by surgery. Furthermore, chemotherapy has only modestly improved the chances of survival in individuals afflicted with the cancer.
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most-common of lung cancers and is typified by squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. NSCLC accounts for approximately 75 to 80% of all primary lung cancers. It has been observed that the mucinous glycoprotein, MUC-1, is highly expressed in such carcinomas, beyond levels of normal expression in epithelial cells of healthy individuals. It has also been observed that many carbohydrate moieties that adorn the MUC-1 protein, by virtue of attachment to the MUC-1 polypeptide backbone, are shorter than those moieties attached to MUC-1 proteins of normal cells. Thus, the MUC-1 polypeptide backbone in cancer cells is more exposed than the polypeptide backbone in normal cells.
Prostate cancer is the second most common diagnosed cancer in men in the United States after lung cancer. Roughly 190,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States and nearly 30,000 men die from the disease yearly.
Biochemical failure after prostatectomy (PR) for treatment of prostate cancer is often a harbinger of clinical failure, which may shorten the life expectancy of the patient. And although a need exists for additional non-invasive methods of treating prostate cancer, a special need exists for a treatment of men with post-prostatectomy biochemical failure.
The present invention provides a method for treating a population of individuals afflicted with non-small cell lung cancer and prostate cancer using a MUC-1-based formulation. In many embodiments, the formulation is a lipidated MUC-1 liposomal vaccine.